Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-25
THEs CHINESE PARADE.
An Anus sing Procession Through
the Streets.

/
the Streets.
If success is computed by numbers
the Chinese festival and procession
yesterday may be considered as one
of the most successful ever held in
Los Angeles. The streets and open
spaces were blocked by an immense
concourse of spectators and it took al
most an hour to get the dazzling cav
alcade into line. When it was worked
into position the admirable arrange
ments of the police carried the parade
through without hitch. Around the
balconies and the windows the people
swarmed in thousands to catch a
glimpse of the amusing cavalcade.
Every coigne of vantage was tena-
ciously held. The golden emblazoned
banners and gorgeous flags with en-
broidered emblems, some OF them
sacred, were of great value, whilst the
beautifully adorned and enamelled la
dies on horseback, with the magnif-
Gently mingled colors of the the mems
dresses represented spectacu-
lar performance which has never
probably been equalled by any
public exhibition in this city. The
gorgeousness and the harmonious
blending of colors was something
wonderful. The enamelling of the
"beauties from the fowery land" was
signally successful, though the color
was in some instances a little too
"high" for the admiring sisters who
have taste for the beautiful for
ever" process. There appeared to be
bat one drawback to the great parade.
The musical instruments were of the
most ancient and discordant kind,
though their gongs softened and fire.
quently overpowered all their rude at
tempts to produce harmony. Visitors
and citizens were alike unable to ap-
preciate the musical part OF the pro-
Crane. Yet this had a better and
more effective result when the fine
military band of the city was called on
to contribute to the harmony of the
proceedings. The procession marched
twice or thrice round China
Town, then through Main and
Spring streets. Some of the
most noticeable features of the
procession were the representations
Of the Queen and Empress of China.
These ladies were on horseback and
gorgeously attired in silks, in which
all the colors of the rainbow were rep
resented; large feathers, several feet
long, protruded from their hair which
was tastefully decorated. One car
riage contained several Chinese chill
dren, likewise beautifully attired.
Their arms, necks, etc., were literally
covered with gold chains, charms,
etc. The rows of soldiers bearing
their weapons of warfare, and brass
emblems of monstrous size, formed a
large part of the cavalcade. The
music consisted of the beating of tom
toms, the blowing of shells, peculiar
squeaking noise produced from a pipe
like a small clarionet, and the loud
clashing and changing OF gongs. The
musicians were drawn in carriages
and were dispersed in the parade at
intervals. The different officers,
standard bearers, priest, soldiers and
mounted marshalls brought up the
rear. During the progress of the pro-
cession crackers were exploded in
large numbers, once or twice soaring
the horses, one of which broke away
but no damage was done save the
knocking down of two or three boys.
The expenses Of this gorgeous pa
rade were betrayed by the leading
Chinese merchants and other Chi
nese.